As global networks pivot to operating high-performance AI Factories, Palo Alto Networks, an AI cybersecurity firm, announced an expanded security ecosystem designed to protect this new industrial backbone. At Mobile World Congress 2026, the company unveiled four collaborations with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris, and Celerway that allow enterprises to scale for sovereign AI and secure the autonomous edge without compromising performance.
“We are establishing the secure foundation for the AI economy through extensive ecosystem collaboration,” Anand Oswal, executive vice president at Palo Alto Networks, said in a Monday media statement. “By seamlessly integrating our AI-powered security services directly from the datacenter into the most vital 5G and IoT networks globally, we are ensuring the AI Factory is secure by design. These partnerships enable us to create a secure digital infrastructure capable of managing the multi-terabit throughput required for training AI models.”
Palo Alto Networks and Nokia are positioning their proven data center security to support the rise of European ‘Gigafactories’. By combining Nokia’s AI Data Center infrastructure with Palo Alto Networks’ AI platforms, customers can scale high-performance AI workloads while achieving their data sovereignty needs.
“In the race to build the world’s AI Factories, you cannot leave the door open at the infrastructure layer. Nokia and Palo Alto Networks jointly envision comprehensive architectural and operational frameworks that expand security solutions from the network layer to workloads,” said Greg Dorai, senior vice president and general manager for IP Networks at Nokia. “The validated architecture will allow our customers to build future-proof, sovereign data centers. We aren’t just providing connectivity, we are protecting the physical and digital integrity of industrial digitization at scale.”
In addition, Palo Alto Networks is showcasing three additional partnerships at MWC Barcelona that extend security from the core infrastructure of telcos to deliver foundational resilience through a unified partner ecosystem.
Palo Alto Networks has signed a memorandum of understanding with U Mobile, Malaysia’s newest 5G provider, to develop a network-embedded Security-as-a-Service offering designed to shield consumers and businesses from escalating cyber threats. By integrating next-generation firewalls and AI-driven security directly into its 4G and 5G infrastructure, U Mobile aims to deliver built-in, real-time protection rather than relying solely on endpoint defenses.
In a separate collaboration, Aeris is integrating its IoT Watchtower platform with Prisma SASE 5G to give enterprises unified visibility and control over vast global device fleets. The approach is intended to help industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and utilities scale AI and 5G deployments while reducing exposure across billions of connected devices, applying data loss prevention and zero trust policies from a centralized control point at the wireless edge.
Meanwhile, Celerway Communication is working with Palo Alto Networks to extend enterprise-grade security to distributed and mobile environments. By integrating Celerway’s edge connectivity with VM-Series next-generation firewalls, first responders and remote teams can maintain encrypted communications and a consistent security posture, even in high-mobility or austere operating conditions far from centralized data centers.
